The Wish For Snow
by ShadowChik
Summary: George Weasley goes out to play some quidditch after dinner. What he doesn't know, is that a surprise lies in wait for him. It's not as if it couldn't be a coincidence, right? [COMPLETE. FINALLY.]
1. Dates, anyone?

**.The Wish For Snow.**

            George Weasley stepped out of the castle and onto Hogwarts grounds. The wind was cold was cold and biting. George shivered and pulled his cloak tighter around himself. He then slung his broom over his shoulder and started walking to the quidditch pitch.

            George was in his sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This was the year that Hogwarts was hosting the Triwizard Tournament. For the event, all quidditch matches and practices had been cancelled, and the quidditch cup would not be held this year. And he missed playing. A lot.

            Today was the first day of Christmas break and most people over fourth year had decided to stay at the castle, as the traditional Yule Ball was being held on Christmas Day. The day grew nearer and the task of finding a date weighed him down. As George walked down the halls, he mentally eliminated girls in his head.

            George was growing closer to the silent quidditch field. The sun had pretty much set and the grounds around him were dark and creepy, but the stadium was magically illuminated, giving an eerie half light.

It was 7 'o' clock and George had just finished eating dinner with his best friends. They all sat across from each other at the long Gryffindor table and were successfully the loudest group in the great hall at anytime. The group included George's twin, Fred, and their friends Lee Jordan, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, and Katie Bell. They were all the same age, but Katie was in the year below the rest of them. In her fifth, but she had turned sixteen the day after returning to Hogwarts.

Out of all of his friends at the table, George wasn't going to the Ball with any of them. In fact, he didn't have a date at all. Fred was taking Angelina, and Lee was going with Alicia. George wasn't really sure who Katie was going with, but he thought it might be Rodger Davies, the Ravenclaw quidditch captain. He had walked past them in the corridor just before dinner, while Rodger was turning on the charm for her. He was the only boy that Katie had let get to the actual talking part.

Katie had been like that since the twins had known her. A chaser on the quidditch team, she had that quiet jock quality that made all guys attracted to her. And it didn't hurt that she was pretty. She had shoulder length, curly blonde hair and big, light blue eyes, the palest ice blue imaginable. She had a sprinkle of freckles over her nose, which was unusual for blondes. She could also make anyone laugh with her well chosen words and cute jokes. George couldn't remember a time this long that she had gone without a boyfriend

Anyway, George closed in on the quidditch field, clutching his broom tighter. He was supposed to meet Fred and Lee here to practice, but even from this distance he could tell that they weren't there yet. So, as he walked the worn path, he kicked at the grass, and started eliminating dates again.


	2. George the Unknowing Git

A few minutes later, George had arrived at the field. He ambled over to the locker room doors. He needed to get out the bludgers. At least that's what the note said. He dropped his broom and continued walking when his foot caught something.

George pitched forward, but caught himself before he actually hit the ground. He brushed his red hair off of his forehead and straightened his crumpled form. He turned around questionly, wondering what had tripped him. Sitting there, on the ground, was a wooden box. The box that held the quidditch balls.

George didn't take time to wonder why the box was sitting out. Madam Hooch always made them put it away after each and every practice. He dragged the large box over to where his broom lay, and creaked open the wooden lid. There, in the box, were three balls. Two bludgers, straining to rid themselves of the bonds that held them, and the tiny, golden snitch. Also, at the bottom on the box, lay two beaters clubs.

George picked up a heavy wooden club and took off his cloak. He picked up his broom and mounted it. He then pulled the thick black band that kept the bludgers in place.  He decided to give the bludgers a few second head start, so when they came after him, it'd be harder to see them coming. The jet black balls zoomed into the distance. George looked at his watch, counting off thirty seconds. Then he looked back up, prepared to swing the bat at one of them.

There was nothing but air surrounding him. He looked around the stadium, unsure of where the two bludgers had gotten to. He didn't have to speculate their location for long, because at that moment, someone on a broom zoomed past him. At least he thought it was a person, because they were just a blur. And this person happened to scream something as they went past. Something like, "GEORGE, YOU STUPID GIT!". Then the dull, red quaffle landed on the ground next to him. The person was being chased by the bludgers.

Would you like more? Please let me know! Click the Review button at the bottom…You know you want to…


	3. Battling the Bludgers

George kicked off the hard ground and closed in on the person on the broom, who had made another quick pass around the stadium. They went into a dive and scooped the other beaters bat off the ground. They then sped to the center of the stadium and stopped. Bat at the ready. That's where George joined them.

"Katie?" he gasped, swinging out at an attacking bludger. He was regretting coming out here at all.

She swung her head around, curls bouncing. "Hey! I didn't have a death wish when I came out here to practice, you know!" she exclaimed with a grin on her face.

The bludgers took this time to arrange an attack on Katie. They came pelting back, aiming for her face. She was extremely agile, and ducked one, then sent the other flying into the bleachers with the club.

George nodded his approval. "Very nice." He said.

Katie beamed and flexed her arms. "What can I say?" she asked with a smile. "Now what do you say about putting these bludgers back in the box before Angelina and Alicia get here?"

Without waiting for an answer, she dived toward the ground, a bludger following her. George followed suit and when he arrived at the ground, he found Katie already trying to wrestle a bludger into the wooden box. He watched with hilarity for a few moments, before he strode over.

"Let a man handle this, Katie.", he told her. He pounced on the jet black ball and almost had it in the box, when the other bludger came out of nowhere and thumped him on the back.__

George let out an "owwwww…". And sat back on his heels, letting the bludger go, and trying to touch the spot where the bludger had hit him.

Katie laid a strong hand on the now bruising spot on his back. "Does this hurt… _man?"_ she asked, giggling.

George straightened. "Of course not." And with his denial, between the two of them, they managed to grapple the enthusiastic bludgers back into the box.


	4. Scraps of Dirty Parchment

_Author's Note: Okay, I managed to dig another chapter up for you guys from this long-forgotten Word document as a Thanksgiving-esque present.With some editing, I guess it's okay... I guess I could manage to finish it, sinceapparently I am still getting reviews on it,even though the last update was 11-22-2003 (about two years ago, lol).You guys are killing me here, you know that, right? Let me know what you think._

_Happy Thanksgiving! Love, Mandy_

Closing the lid, George collapsed onto the ball container, gasping for breath. Katie fell to the grass next to him with a small smile on her face.

"Never really liked bludgers," she told him, her smile never leaving her face.

"And why's that?" George asked cautiously, wondering where Fred and Lee were.

Katie pulled upa loose dark sleeve of her robe and laughed. She held her arms out to him. "Reason enough for you?" She asked, a smirk playing on her lips. Her arms were covered in black and blue marks, bruises, and scars. She laughed at the size his eyes had gotten.

"I thought that we were good beaters…" he told her, looking into her eyes. The blue shone back in amusement.

"I've been playing quidditch a long time. Longer than I've known you." She told him, her voice thick with suppressed mirth.

"So, what's that one from?" George asked curiously, pointing to a phantom white scar hovering near her shoulder. "A bludger's not that big."

Katie glanced at it. "Last year. Quidditch final. When Flint tried to throw me and I took him down with me". She sounded proud of herself. And even George had to admit he was proud of her. She was so small, coming only to his chin, and he could imagine she didn't weigh much. Yet, she took out Flint. On more than one occasion.

George aquired a dreamy look as he gazed into the sky. "I liked that game," he said with a wistful smile.

"Me, too!" Katie told him, rolling down the sleeves of her robes.

George spun around and eyed her. "Didn't you break your wrist?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yeah," she answered, rolling her eyes. "But we also won the Cup, had a party, I got to punch Flint, _and _I survived after falling about fifteen feet. I'd call that a pretty good game, wouldn't you George?"

George stood up, suddenly and held his hand out to help her up. She took it and grabbed her broom, which immediately started hovering beside her.

"What if I say I'm Fred?" George asked, his eyebrows raised and a grin seeping across his face.

"Well then, I'd have to say that you're lying," Katie answered smugly, seating herself sideways on her broom.

"And how would you know that?", George asked, kicking the box ofbludgers farther away from her.

"Because…" Katie started cautiously, as if choosing her words carefully. "Because when I came down to practice, I passed Fred and Angelina in the common room, and they were…ah…busy," She concluded, wrinkling her freckled nose in disgust.

"You're kidding!", George exclaimed, narrowing his eyes.

"Nope! In the common room, of all places!" she told him incredulously, trying to flip her curls, but only succeeding in making them bounce.

"That is weird", George stared at her. "Because when I went up to my room to get my broom after dinner, Lee was up there with Alicia, and they were…busy, too."

"And I was supposed to meet them here to practice some of our new moves, too!" Katie said, sounding disappointed, as she kicked the ground, her pale blue eyes scanning the distance. "They must've forgotten."

"They were supposed to meet you here?", George asked. Katie nodded. "Fred and Lee were supposed to meet me here, too. I got a note." He held out a worn piece of parchment to her.

Katie just stared at it, looking confused. "I got one, too", She told him softly, putting her hand into the pocket of her robes and withdrawing an equally dirty piece of parchment. She took George's note from him, shoved hers in his hand and they both began immediately reading.


	5. Revenge Best Served Cold

George could hardly read the note. It seems it was written by Alicia, who had a habit of filling her papers with tiny, almost unreadable, words. But he could make out what it generally said:

_Hey Katie!_

_Me and Angelina were just thinking that we need some work on our moves. We're totally out of practice! I can't believe that they cancelled the quidditch season this year! How unfair is that? Anyway, meet us on the pitch at 6:55. After dinner, we'll get our brooms and hit it!_

_Love, Alicia_

George looked up from the paper, and watched as Katie struggled to interpret Fred's handwriting. When she read, she moved her mouth along with the words. George knew exactly what the note said. How could he forget?

_George,_

_Meet Lee and I down at the pitch at 7:00. We need to work on beating. Me and Lee will be a little late, on account of we have girlfriends (ha ha!) But go ahead and get the bludgers out anyway, you need the extra practice!_

_Fred_

Katie looked up from the note. "Oh…My…", She started, her mouth hung open.

George nodded. "We've been-", he begun angrily

"Set up!" Kaite finished, cutting him off. Shaking her head, she threw the note to the grass and ground it into the soil with the toe of her shoe."I can't believe it!", she spat, turning and mounting her broom. "When I get to them…". Katie couldn't remember what she wanted to say. She was seeing spots, she was so angry.

George shook his head. "Calm down, Katie. Now let's think rationally."

"Rationally?" Katie cried, her arms splayed in the air. "I'll give you rationale. You hold them down, and I'll hit them. Fred and Lee are too big for me." She curled her fingers one by one into the middle of her palm and then ground her fist into her other hand. The look on her face couldn't be considered malicious, but it was pretty damn close.

Amusement crossed George's face. He faced her, hesitant at first and then warming to the idea, placed his hands on her shoulders. Katie looked uneasy, and then placated at the contact. "Peace." He murmured, and as soon as he had her attention, picked up his hands and passed them over his thoughtful face.

Katie's expression froze in it's rage, and a quizzical look passed over her face. "Now wait just a second, George Weasley." She narrowed her eyes. "_You're_ one of the ones who is always trying to get revenge."

George smirked coolly. "What else do you think that I meant? What else should we think rationally about?"

Katie sighed in defeat, and leaned back until her entire body was lying horizontally on her broom. "You're absolutely right, George." Then she was quiet. It seemed like she was lost in her own thoughts, but really she was just watching the clouds form, deep gray and imposing.

"I wish that it would snow." She told him quietly, and out of the blue. She had given up on the idea of revenge, it had seemed."I wish that it would snow more than anything in the world. You can't have a bloody Yule ball without the snow. You can't even have Christmas, for that matter."

George likened this thought to the idea that you couldn't have Christmas without presents or stockings or a tree, when in fact, you could do without all three. He remembered a quiet Christmas when he was young and Mrs. Weasley had cried all morning because she had nothing to give to her children. It was an immature testament to the wills of the young. But instead of resenting Katie for her statement, it only made George lean in closer to her, his breath turning frosty crystals on her cheek.

"Of course you can," He told her, his voice quieter than he would have liked. "I mean, what is a Ball except for dancing? And I have been told by a source, on deep background, unfortunately, that you can dance when it's not snowing."

Katie turned her head, and the smooth wood of her broom handle scraped her skin. Inches away from George, she could not only feel his shallow breaths, but then heat coming off of his body. A butterfly worked itself out of her stomach and moved up her throat and came out as: "Let's see then, Mr. Weasley."


	6. Unbreakable Spell

With unequivocal grace, is the way that Katie would have described the way that George got off of his broom, and held his hand out for her. She sat up and swung one leg over the edge of her broom. Grabbing George's hand, she dismounted with none of the care that she had seen from him.

George pulled her closer, closer than he had ever been to her and not nearly close enough. His feet stepped to a rhythm that he had never heard before, and couldn't duplicate, but was the most beautiful thing in the world when he saw her follow with feminine grace. Katie's mouth kept opening, and then closing. It was a moment before George figured out that she was trying to think of something to say to alleviate the awkwardness that no doubt would form between them. However, there was no awkwardness, there was only melody.

Above them, the sky was darkening in increments. Each was noticing this unconsciously, and neither George nor Katie were surprised when small, white snowflakes began to drift downward, downward, downward.

George should have gotten chills when the ice first touched the calloused skin on his hands, but he wasn't paying enough attention to care. He was watching the snowflakes gather on Katie's impossibly dark eyelashes, making her irises look bluer than he ever thought possible. He remembered winters in the Burrow when this would happen to Ginny. He would notice this right before he and Fred hefted her, giggling, into the nearest snowbank. However, what he was feeling was nothing near sibling affection, and he never remembered Ginny as being so beautiful.

A snowflake melted in the corner of Katie's eye and made it's way down her cheek in the path of a tear. Instinctively, George pressed his thumb over it in an attempt to wipe it away, but he left it there. Katie looked up at him, trying to speak again, but the words still not coming out.

Before he knew what it was he was doing, George had ducked his head and was kissing her. His thumb was still on her cheek, and the rest of his hand had moved to cup the rest of her face. And there they stood, at the side of the pitch, locked in a tender embrace, as Katie's wish came true. Hundreds, thousands, millions of snowflakes drifted their way down to earth, dropping their own icy kisses on George and Katie's faces.

It could have been a second, and it could have been a year, before George finally heard the clearing of a throat behind him. Hating to, he pulled away and spun around. Katie, disoriented, placed a hand on his elbow.

"Miss Bell. Mr. Weasley. I trust that I will see you two at the Yule Ball, then?" Professor McGonagall said, through tight lips. George blinked at her, looked down at Katie, who was still dazed, and cleared his own throat.

"Yes, ma'am?" He answered, his voice unsteady.

McGonagall gave a curt nod, and like a petulant child stalked away. But not before calling: "Mr. Weasley, I trust that you remember your promise?" George blinked once again, his mind blank. And then a shadow stepped from behind the bleachers.

"Of course, professor." Fred winked toward George. "No pranks in the common room for the weeks preceding and following Christmas. Christmas is allowed, however not after eleven p.m."

McGonagall sighed, this was obviously the best deal that she could get out of Fred, and finally turned away. Her wand rose in the air, and she flicked it with a finite sweep of her wrist. The clouds in the sky cleared, and it stopped snowing immediately.

As soon as she had stepped off of the field, three more shadows appeared from underneath the bleachers, two of them were giggling.

"Success!" Lee shouted, his arms thrust victoriously in the air.

"It was my idea." Alicia chirped, still giggling.

"Finally." Was all Angelina said, as she grinned and burrowed into Fred's cloak for warmth. "Now that we're here, how about some quidditch? We don't have anything better to do."

Quiet until now, Katie grasped George's hand in an easy grip and pulled him to face her. "It's okay," She said loudly enough for her voice to carry. "We're not bored. We're playing one on one." Once again, George couldn't help it. He kissed her tenderly.

This time, neither of them saw the clouds quickly darken, or the snow beginning to fall, or the chill that started in the breeze. Neither did they notice their friends cheering and laughing, and spinning, juvenilely and carefree, with their arms stretched out, welcoming the snow with their laughter and joy.

None of them noticed the professor had drawn her wand again. She wouldcome back later tonight to lift the complicated Weather Changing Spell. As for the Laughter and Happiness and Joy, she couldn't have broken that spell even if she had wanted to. Perhaps that was what made her smile to herself as she set off toward the castle, tightening her Gryffindor scarf.


End file.
